Talking about this book and he, and they give copies of the books to those of us who come to the event so its a wonderful story what drew you to thatbook . I think hearing David Mcculloch talk about it and talk about the Wright Brothers and, who were very interesting. You think you know because we all learn about the Wright Brothers and they are the founders of flight. You know, and then to hear David Mcculloch talk about their personal story, i discovered i didnt really know anything about them at all. The brothers had a sister who was very helpful in everything they did and they lived at their home, all of them lived together as they were getting older and they had a bicycle shop, they started out with a bicycle shop and one of the brothers was just fascinated by flight and he studied birds and then translated that to how to begin to build an airplane and they went to of course, kitty hawk, to North Carolina because thats where they thought the wind patterns would be best so it is just a wonderful story. And also about not just that family and their relationships but also about america at that time as we were looking at what had happened to manufacturing and the Industrial Revolution and the innovation that wasgoing on in the country at the time. Does it surprise you that the sister got a little bit of short shrift in history . Well, that was pretty typical. But it was nice to hear the Important Role that she played. And im still, im not finished with the book. Im only a quarter of the way through so im looking forward to see more of the story he talked about in the conversation. What kind of books are you drawn to . It depends on what im doing at the time. I always try and have something serious that i can read that im interested in and then something fun. I really like mysteries. Im a big fan of mary higgins clark. When i got a weekend or im on a flight someplace and ive got some extended time that i just want to escape. Its fun to read mary higgins clark. I like dick francis and of course agatha christie, all those are very fun but then you know, i find history, historical novels are fascinating to me. Biographies and history. One of my favorites recently has been the book red notice which is about the Sergei Magnitsky case area its about a man who was one of the First Western investors in russia and Eastern Europe after the fall of the soviet union and we had some legislation to address a really horrible human rights abuse in russia of this young attorney named surrogate magnitsky who had worked with the author of the book, bill browder and had been a whistleblower on people who he thought were defrauding the russian government. And bill got so outraged about what was happening to magnitsky because he was in prison and tortured. Ultimately he died but during that period and afterwards he tried to get attention to his case and we ultimately passed legislation here that ben cardin and john mccain sponsored that i worked on and was a cosponsor of two hold accountable those people in russia who had violated magnitskys human rights. Who had tortured him and hold others in russia accountable for Human Rights Violations so its a fascinating story and reads like a novel. Im also interested in another book that has New Hampshire connections called citizens of london which is a great story about world war ii and the americans who helped forge the bond with britain that helped us defeat the nazis in world war ii and one of its principles in that was a former governor of New Hampshire who then went on to the ambassador to england during that period and so its a great story about americans who were really pivotal and what happened in world war ii and about the period of time, about what it was like in london during the bombings and just, you get that sense of what life was like and that it could end at any time and there was a sense ofurgency about everything people did. The mans name was john wynette who was the former governor of New Hampshire and the real hero to the english people during that period. He succeeded joe kennedy as ambassador in england. You find that reading can help your work in the senate . Oh, absolutely. It gives you Historical Perspective which is interesting. Even though i was anenglish major i find history fascinating. I think most of us in politics are fascinated by history. And also it gives you a sense of the challenges that we face today and an understanding that they are not unique and in most cases we face similar challenges before and looking at how people make decisions to overcome those and the leaders that we had in the past who are able to steer the country in a positive direction, its really reassuring to see that weve faced difficult times as we are today before and weve been able to get through them. You said you were an english major. Why . Why did you major in english . I sort of wound up as an english major. Ive always loved literature, ive loved books and i started out majoring in french and then had to transfer schools and switch to Political Science and then when i transferred back to my original college i wanted to be able to graduate and i had more credits in english than anything else so that was the way i woundup as an english major. What are some of your literature favorites . I love heart of darkness, conrads book about heart of darkness. That was one as i was a college student, that was one of the books that i thought was really critical in thinking about life, the idea that work is really important and having something to get up and do every day and a focus is very important. I also love the book called the last angry man which is about, a novel about a man who was a doctor who just was upset and tried to do something when he saw the wrongs that he thought should be addressed and his whole life, worked hard to do something about them. And then of course i had the benefit of taking courses in chaucer and shakespeare and having that foundation and shakespeare is, you know, i love shakespeare. Hes wonderful. And then americans, American Literature as welland particularly american playwrights. Im a big fan of eugene oneill. I tend to like kind of heavy plays. To get back to william shakespeare, how would you explain shakespeare to those of us who just dont get it . Who try . You have to seeshakespeare performed. And when you see it performed its a very different thing than reading it. I talked to rural mississippi the first year they totally integrated the schools in the south and one of my classes we did macbeth and we actually, we read macbeth and then we had the students perform different scenes from macbeth and it was really interesting to see them interpret what they were reading and to get it as part of being able to actually play out the scenes from macbeth. The witches are everybodys favorite. The bubble, bubble, toil and trouble. The kids had a great time with that. Is it relevant today . Absolutely its relevant. Macbeth . You see what happens to lady macbeth. She cant wash the blood from her hands because he still feels that guilt and look at some of our situations today where people have done things that are wrong and unfortunately not everybody feels that guilt but there are people who still do. Hamlet, the indecision of hamlet, trying to figure out what the right thing to do. Very relevant today. Senator jeanne shaheen, if you had to recommend a book or two books on the u. S. Senate or on us history and somebody said how can i learn more about what to do up here, is there one you would recommend . David mccullochs book about john adams i think is a wonderful book. 1776 is a wonderful book. Less about what we do today in the senate. I have not yet read master of the senate which is the third book in carols trilogy, that one and johnson. I just finished the second book so thats on my list to do im hoping this summer but people tell me its a wonderful description of what happens in the senate and the process and how to make things happen which johnson of course was a master at so thats one on my list for the summer. When you were growing up in missouri and going to school in mississippi at shippensburg did it ever occur to you you were going to be the governor and senator from New Hampshire . No. That was not on my dream list of things i wanted to do in the future. But i have this theory about politics and that is that some of us are born with musical ability and some of us are artists and others of us get the political gene so there are some of us that are just drawn to politics the cause my parents were always interested in Current Events but neither of them were political. They alwaysdemoted but they were not involved in politics. So i think some of us are junkies. We get excited about it. Are you an author . Im not, i wish i were. My daughter however is an author. My oldest daughter i think you know has written a wonderful book about her family and my oldest granddaughter, her oldest daughter ellie who has type i diabetes and the struggles families had. Eileen coach. Eileen coat and this wonderful yellow lab who came and is her Diabetes Service dog and she had a camp for six weeks to summer them in pittsburgh and coaches with her so a lot of the concerns that we all feel about kelly because this is her first extended period of time away from home is mitigated because shes got coach with her. That book ellie and coach came out in 2015 by Stephanie Tran one in case youre interested. Book tv did an interview with miss shaheenabout that book. Why are you an author . An english major , history buff. I hope at some point i will be. Your colleagues have written books they have and very good fascinating books. Senator clovis shark, the senator next door and Barbara Boxer just, the art of talk. I love that title and then of course Claire Mccaskill has written a book. She has a wonderful title to hers as well and then kristin joe brand has a wonderful book about, not a memoir about her but its about the importance of women, young women engaged in the political process so its great to have all these talented colleagues and at some point i hope maybe i can join them. As the only woman whos been both a governor and a senator, right . What would you call your book . I havent gotten that far. Thats why i havent written on because you have to take time and think about that. Do you ever get recommendations for books from your colleagues or recommend to your colleagues books yes. Having said that i cant tell you any that ive gotten lately but there are occasions, in fact i shouldnt say that, i had Lamar Alexander bring me a book about the senate area thats right over there on the table and he said he thought it was the best book about how the senate operates that he had read so we do share from time to time books that we think are important and helpful. Why would senator alexander bring that to you . I cant remember. We were talking about books and i cant remember exactly what i was talking about but he said oh, you need to read this book and then he brought it to me. Shaheen, are there books that you go back to time and again . Reading novels Historical Books . Less now than i used to when i was growing up. There were books i used to reread frequently but because time is more challenging today its harder to do that. But one of the things that i like is having had the opportunity to read to my children and some of the books that i read to them and my grandchildren have been interested in are some of my favorite books, books like charlottes web, eb whites book stuart little, trumpet of the swan, those are wonderful books and for parents, its just a fun for me to read them to my books as it was for my kids to hear them. Books like shell silverstein, where the sidewalk ends which is a great book of poetry thatsjust fun to read out loud. When i get asked to go to schools to read to some of the elementary students, thats what i often take with me because they love that book. The writing and the images, Sarah Cynthia sylvia stout would not take the garbage out. You get that image of this little girl that kidscan identify with. When you visit with librarians in New Hampshire, whats their main concern . Resources. Its always resources. But they also are very positive about the library of congress, about the wonderful job that it does and providing support to libraries through the country. And one of the things i had the opportunity to do in the last 10 years or so is to go to the opening of new libraries in New Hampshire. I think theres this perception in some quarters that well, things are online so people dont need libraries they are not reading books in the same way. But weve had a number of new libraries open in New Hampshire and they have a whole, they have the traditional books but they also do have this new function of providing computer access to people who may not have at their home, providing Community Space where people can come and meet together and i think thats been a wonderful transition and the functions that libraries provide to communities. Did you find that you can affect policy more directly as governor or as senator when it came to reading, libraries, this type of education . I think its sort of apples and oranges. You have a different role as governor than you do as senator. Certainly i was very proud when i was able to share the appropriations subcommittee on the legislative branch because the library of congress was part of my oversight, my portfolio and we were able to increase support for the library of congress after several years when it had been decreasing and that was very positive and i heard that call, how much people appreciated that area as governor i would say i was able to be in New Hampshire more to meet with students and go to schools that i had been as senator and we had a direct ability to go in for programs like reading is fundamental, to be able to go into the school every year and read to kids and talk about the importance of books. What do you think of these programs like New Hampshire reads or this allstate all reading the same book . I think its great. I think its very effective and the programs that have students who are signed up to read a certain number of books over the summer. Those are very important because kids need encouragement and they need direction and reading does broaden your horizons. It gives you the opportunity to fantasize about other places and what may happen in your life in a way that very few other things do. Even television and movies, they are great but books just have a different ability to capture kids imaginations, i think. Right. You volunteered and Many Political person for a long time. Jimmy carter, al gore, gary hart, barack obama. Is there a political book that you would recommend for people, a memoir or a book by a politician . Oh, certainly heady whites books about campaigning i think are important to read because they give you that foundation to the modern Campaign System that we have. I can remember reading the book about the Carter Campaign by jules with cover and trying to think. Object remodeled . Which was a wonderful book and for those of us who had been part of a campaign so its fun to go back and see how outsiders viewed what was going on and you know, theres a book, almost every campaign asone of those books. Where you get your books where do you have time . Do you order them online, hard copy, ebooks, how do you do it . I never read ebooks. I like having a book , the feel of the book and the physicality of the book i find important, i like that. And i get them wherever i can find. I go in to bjs on the weekend and i always go to the table that has all the books on it to see whats there that i might want to pick up, thats how i picked up 1776. It had been out for a couple of years and i found it very cheaply going into, i love to go into bookstores and just browse and see whats there going to, as i said the library of Congress Events where they give you a book. Thats one of the bigreasons to go is because you get to leave with this book. So wherever i can find them and then i have friends who will loan me books to. Thats why i havent yet read master of the senate because i have a friend who bought it said dont go out and buy it read i can get it from the library of congress but then i have to give it back. I always feel like im on a deadline when i get books from the library of congress so he said, ive got it. I will give it to you. Wherever i can find them. This is book tv on cspan2. Television for serious readers. Heres our primetime lineup. Tonight starting at seven journalist Monique Morris talks about how some School Policies have a negative impact on the lives of black female students. At 8 45 from the recent harlem book fair, Elizabeth Nunez on black writers in the state of literature. On afterwards at 9 pm eastern dana lash argues the coastal elitists dont under stand the impact of their policies on americas heartland and at 10 pm Linda Greenhouse describes the Supreme Court under chief Justice Warren burger. We wrap up our sunday primetime lineup at 11 with elaine kmart on why americans have lost faith in their political leaders. That happens tonight on cspan2s book tv. Book tv recently visited capitol hill to ask members of congress what they are reading this summer. I am a multiple reader so i read a lot of books all at the same time so sometimes ill finish a book all in one sitting but more often than not i read parts of the book but for example one book that i have finished reading relatively a short time ago is this book i understand you did a whole segment on. The billionaire and the bard. On a big fan of shakespeare and to know the folder libraries down the street from where i live and when i saw this book i picked it up and it is a terrific book about folder who went on a spree, really to by shakespeares folios and he amassed a huge collection of not just the folios but enough materials on shakespeare that he created the folger library. Its a fascinating story of how it ended up in washington dc but im also reading , im rereading the righteous mind. Its a book about communicating how we communicate in a more effective way and if you can picture an elephant and theres a rider on the elephant, the elephant is making all the decisions, go left, right, forward, backward, the writer merely explains what the elephant is doing and a lot of times you talk to the writer who is not making the decisions, we are to be talking to the elephant so its a really good way to remember that you should be talking to the elephants making the decision, not the people explaining the decisions and i think in a time of political situation, its important that we keep in mind who we ought to be talking to so its a book that im rereading. Im also rereading a book i picked up in the National Gallery a week or so ago called the accidental masterpiece and it is about how you see arts and really to me because i am a great lover of arts as you can see, beauty and art and everyday objects and everywhere you look this is also another interesting book that i picked up. As you can see by my office that i like color, i like art. I also do my own art. I do ceramics although i tend to keep my day job here. Reading, i want to mention is foundational because i was not born in this country. English is not my first language and i credit a librarian when i was in Elementary School for awakening my love of reading. I still rememberthe book he read , it was of little kids who would sit at her feet at the library and she read us mary poppins. And that really brought out the love of reading for me which as i said is foundational. In order to be a good writer you should be a reader. And im a pretty voracious reader. Is there anything else you are reading this summer . Lets see. I also picked up eight is for hawk and i also read the new yorker compilations of short stories that i have on my ipad and those are things i can read when i have time. I have a number of those kinds of books on my ipad. The other thing i want to mention is that often you think about the books that changed your way of thinking theres one book that did that for me when i was in college and that is the feminine mystique by betty free then and literally a light hole went on when i read that book and i decided that maybe my flight was not going to persist of getting married and having children and living that kind of life that i should be thinking about taking care of myself and expanding my own horizons. I can honestly say that is one book that totally changed my way of thinking about myself. Book tv and wants to know what you are reading this summer. Treatise your answer book tv or posted on our facebook page, facebook. Com book tv. Heres a look at some books being published this week. Nobel prizewinning Economist Joseph Stiglitz explores the shortcomings of the European Union and its shared currency in the euro. In capital offenses, Duke University law professor samuel buell investigates the difficulties in prosecuting whitecollar crime. Talk radio host mark davis argues against liberal thinking in upside down. Also being released this week, the rest i will kill in which Historian Brian mcginty recalls William Tillmans fight in 1861 to free his ship from confederate privateers. Jane hampton cook looks at the lead up and aftermath of the war of 1812 in the burning of the white house. And in born right, see nicole mason, executive director of the senator for research and policy and Public Interest recalls how she overcame poverty during her childhood to become a successful writer and scholar. Look for these titles in bookstores this coming week and watch for the authors in the near future on book tv. [inaudible conversation] host welcome to book cart. We are so excited to welcome